by G. Bailey
I quickly send her my new address and then use the bathroom. Allie sends me a text letting me know she has just pulled up, so I open my door after buzzing her in.
When I see her climbing the stairs, I still feel taken aback by how fucking perfect she looks. Her hair is up in a bun but looks messy in a cute way. She looks like she just came out of the gym, wearing yoga pants and a tank top with her coat thrown over the top.
I can't help myself when she stands in front of me, and I pull her into a kiss as I'm so desperate to taste her. I want to shout how much I love her, but I know it's too soon to repeat that. I still can't get my head around her amazing tattoo and the knowledge that I will always mean something to her. I’m fucking hoping it means she loves me, but I can't help but be a little disheartened that she hasn't said it back. I’m seriously turning into the girl in this relationship.
"Hey, you." She purrs, pulling back from the kiss so she can look up into my eyes.
"Let me show you around my new place," I say with a grin.
"I'd like that, and then I have to tell you something; nothing bad, I promise." She smiles, making my heart beat faster. I walk around my new home with her mentioning things she likes and me telling her about the bits I like in here.
"So what do you think?" I ask a little nervously. I want the girl I love to like it, at least, because I want her spending more time here with me.
"It's really wonderful; it's close to work for you, too, so that must help," she says.
"It is one of the reasons I even looked at this place, but I feel at home here," I tell her and pull her into my arms.
"Won't Harley and Luke miss you? Everyone seems to be moving out," she says into my chest.
"I think Harley needs the space, and Luke is, well, Luke." I laugh, knowing that Luke will be here anyway because he’s always around.
"So shall we christen your new place?" Allie asks, running her hands up my chest. I stop her even though she is turning me on.
"Sweetheart, Sebastian, Maisy, and Jake are on their way over. I know you haven't had much time to see them, so I thought I'd cook. Didn’t you have something you wanted to tell me?" I ask, watching as her cheeks go red, and she looks up to me.
"That's really sweet, Elliot," she says in a gravelly voice, which urges me to take her on my bed right now.
“Stop that, before I forget my brother and his family are coming over,” I warn her, and she grins.
“I dropped out of university,” she blurts out.
“I wasn’t expecting you to say that, can I ask why?” I reply.
“Harley offered me a full-time dancing instructor job. There have been lots of sign-ups for more classes,” she tells me. I wonder why Harley didn’t mention this to me.
“Harley would have let you finish university first, if that’s what you wanted,” I tell her, knowing my brother wouldn’t have pushed her into anything.
“I didn’t. I chose that course because my dad told me I needed to do something other than dance. I respected him so much back then that I listened and got into a course I don’t like or have any interest in,” she says, and I link my hand with hers. “He is going to be so mad, but I don’t have the respect for him anymore. I don’t care anymore, is that horrible? I don’t care what my dad thinks anymore because he isn’t who I thought he was.”
“It’s not horrible. I used to love my dad, once, before I realised who he was. I still cared about him after every beating, and I hated that. I hated that I still cared about him when he didn’t give a shit about me.” She doesn’t say anything as I continue. “You know what I realised?” I ask her, and she shakes her head. “Once you love someone, no matter what they do, part of you will always care about them.”
“That makes sense. Who knew Elliot King was the smart brother?” She laughs, and I pick her up over my shoulder and throw her onto my bed.
“Cheeky little–” I say and laugh as she rolls herself off the other end of the bed and holds her hands up.
“If it helps, you’re also the hottest. Like, totally drool worthy,” she says, and I laugh with her this time.
“It helps,” I eventually get out.
"Do you want me to cook?" she asks, walking toward the bedroom door. My eyes watch her pretty, little bum sway side to side in those tight, yoga trousers of hers.
I have to clear my throat before answering her. "No, you’re relaxing, and I'm cooking dinner tonight." I put everything in the fridge when I first got here, and the apartment is full of cooking shit, which I bought online.
"Yum, that sounds good. I can be your dessert." She winks at me before making her way back to the lounge. I have to wait for my tented jeans to go down before I can even think of leaving the bedroom to cook.
The buzzer goes off not long after I finish the pasta sauce, and I let them in. Maisy gives me a hug while Sebastian holds Jake in his arms.
Jake starts babbling. "El, El, El," he says, with his chubby hands trying to grab me. I chuckle, taking him off a proud-looking Sebastian.
"Hey, my favourite, little man. I know someone who has missed you," I say, taking him into the kitchen where Allie squeals and comes over to hold Jake. Jake takes it in stride as Allie cuddles him, and then he looks back to me.
"El, El, El," he whines a little, and Allie grins.
"You want your uncle El?" I ask him, and Jake has that classic grin I've seen a million times on his dad.
"Here you go." Allie laughs, passing him over, and I push his hair out of his eyes a little.
I find Sebastian and Maisy in the lounge, and Sebastian is at the bar making drinks. I want to comment on how he has made himself at home within seconds of being here, but I don’t. I actually like that he is making himself a drink.
"I've ordered a taxi to pick us up later, so we can drink a little; want one?" he asks me.
"I’ll have whatever there is, do you like the apartment then?" I ask, sitting on the empty sofa with Jake, while Allie hugs Maisy.
“It’s nice; I will have a proper walk around in a minute,” he replies as he gives me a beer and turns to Allie.
“Do you want a drink, Allie?” Seb asks her.
"Sure, you choose for me, thanks, Seb,” she says and turns to Maisy.
“I missed you, Maisybear," Allie says, and they start chatting away like they didn’t just see each other yesterday. Sebastian puts my drink on the coffee table and sits next to me.
"Dada," Jake says, clapping his hands on my lap.
"He is getting so big," I comment, looking at Jake. Jake is wearing blue jeans and a top that says 'mummy is the best.'
I point at his top with a grin, and then I tickle Jake, making him laugh.
"Maisy went shopping for him, I couldn't say no when she brought him out wearing that." He laughs.
"You look happy, man," I comment, noticing him looking at Maisy and laughing.
“So do you,” he replies, and I follow his gaze to Allie, who is grinning at whatever Maisy has said.
"I love her, but I don't think she really feels the same. I was a dick to her for years, and I don't know how to fix that," I say quietly, wanting his advice.
"She does feel the same, but it takes time to trust someone, bro. It was bad, but you never did anything that would truly hurt her, and she knows that," Seb tells me, patting my shoulder.
My phone chooses that moment to start ringing in my pocket.
‘My milkshake brings all the guys to the yard, and they’re like…’
I cancel the call when I manage to get it out of my pocket. I see that it’s an unknown number anyway. Everyone is laughing at this point, and I glare at Allie.
“Please tell me what the hell you did? I can’t get rid of it,” I say tensely. The little madam just smirks at me.
“No way, plus I like it.” She shrugs.
“You have your hands full there,” Seb says as Allie goes back to talking to Maisy. Seb doesn’t know the half of it.
The alarm on the cooker starts beeping so I don'
t have to answer, and I hand Jake over to Sebastian before going to the kitchen. Half an hour later, we are all sitting around the small table in the corner of the lounge. Jake is in his seat, which Sebastian brought as it folds up, and is eating pasta and chicken. The rest of us have creamy chicken pasta, which is an easy Google recipe I like to make sometimes.
"Holy shit, this is good," Allie comments.
"Language, someone copies what their aunties say," Sebastian says with a smile.
"Whoops, but honestly, this is good." She winks at me, and I reach under the table next to her to squeeze her bare knee.
"So we have some news. We only found out in the last few weeks, and it’s a massive surprise, but we want you guys to know," Sebastian starts, and I frown at him, wondering what he is going to tell me.
Sebastian takes Maisy’s hand before shocking me silent by saying, "Maisy is pregnant; I'm going to be a dad again. It wasn't planned but, honestly, I couldn't be happier," Sebastian says, lifting Maisy’s hand to place a kiss on it.
"Congratulations," I say with a big smile, and Allie jumps out of her seat to throw herself at Maisy, kissing her cheek.
"I'm so, so fucking happy for you," she says.
"Language," Sebastian mutters with a grin when everyone ignores him.
Allie eventually sits down. "So? How far along are you?" Allie asks.
"About twelve weeks. It's a little bit of a shock,” Maisy says.
“So that was around your wedding?” Allie asks.
“You remember when we told you I had cut my foot on holiday and had antibiotics? The doctor forgot to mention that it would mess up my contraception pills.”
“Happy accident, Maisy.” Seb kisses her cheek.
“Jake will be close in age to his brother or sister, but I'm happy it’s worked out like that," Maisy says, and I nod. Growing up with my brothers and having them so close in age was good. You always have someone on your side, even if you feel like killing them yourself sometimes.
"You always have me around to help. One text away," Allie says.
"That goes for me too. Have you told Harley and Luke yet?" I ask them.
"Harley has known for a few weeks. He was the one helping me out at work when Maisy needed help with Jake because of her bad morning sickness. We are telling Luke tomorrow," Seb says.
"So . . . a girl this time?" I joke.
"God help her if she is a girl in this family. Any guy who goes near her would be terrified," Allie says, making us all laugh.
She really isn’t wrong. I would have to protect her from guys like me. I could imagine Sebastian going postal at the idea of anyone dating his little, baby girl. I kind of hope it’s a lad; that would be a lot easier.
"If we are blessed with a girl, she isn't talking to boys until she is thirty," Sebastian says seriously, and we laugh.
"Good luck with that, Sebastian." Maisy giggles, and Sebastian winks at her.
"Since the baby was created on our honeymoon, we could call her Honey if she is a girl or Sebastianine," Sebastian says, and Maisy coughs mid-drink.
"No way in hell," she says with a glare.
Seb gives her puppy dog eyes as she gets up to give Jake a yogurt with a baby spoon.
"I will persuade you," Sebastian says with a cheeky grin before pulling Maisy close for a big kiss.
"Hey, none of that at the table," Allie tuts with a smile.
I am about to speak when something wet splats into my face and drips onto my shirt. I wipe my face to see everyone laughing, including Jake, who clearly just threw his yogurt at me. The little man is still holding the pink yogurt-covered spoon as he giggles.
“Every time,” I mutter, and I see Maisy wiping the happy tears from her eyes as she laughs.
Allie hands me some baby wipes from the changing bag. I clean up the best I can while Seb takes the yogurt from him.
“You know, you’re special. He never wastes food on anyone else,” Maisy tells me, and Seb laughs.
“Wait until he is older and it’s not cruel to throw food back at him,” I say, making them all laugh at me. I’m really not joking.
Allie gets up with the baby wipes and starts cleaning Jake.
"I will do that, Allie," Sebastian says, starting to get up.
"I want to, and then I want a cuddle," Allie says, looking like a kid at Christmas.
We spend the rest of the meal laughing, and Jake is the centre of attention, clapping at everything we say.
"I enjoyed tonight." Allie sighs, standing next to the front door as I shut it.
"You’re going to enjoy it more, soon," I whisper a promise before picking her up over my shoulder and carrying her to my bedroom.
"Put me down, caveman." She moans as I slap her ass.
"Sure," I say, throwing her onto the bed, and she looks up at me with a big grin.
"I–" she goes to say, but my phone rings.
"I will leave it," I say, going to take my shirt off.
"No, you should get it."
I sigh before pulling out my phone, not even looking at it as I answer.
"Hey, Elliot; it’s me, Lily. I have a box of your things you left at mine to return. Can I see you tomorrow? At the same cafe we met at?" she asks straight away. I don’t really remember leaving much stuff, but I don’t want whatever it is anyway.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Lily, I have to go," I say while Allie watches me with a dark face as she sits up on the bed. I end the call as Allie moves to stand in front of me with her arms crossed.
"Why is Lily calling you? Why is she calling you at nine at night?" she asks, looking pissed off.
"She wanted to return something. I don't know what it is, nor do I care. We talked the other day, and I thought we sorted things out. She didn’t mention anything then," I say the last part more to myself, and Allie looks even more pissed, which I don't understand.
"Why didn't you tell me you've been seeing her?" Allie says, and she doesn’t wait for my answer as she says, “I saw her, too, and I told you she had been a bitch. She told me she had every intention of going after you again, and now you’ve been meeting up with her?”
"It was only once, and I don't think I have to tell you everywhere I go, Allie. Lily is just messed up, mainly by me, but she isn't a bitch," I say, defending her. I'm not sure why, but it's too late once I've said it.
"‘It was always her, she said that. She said you would go back to her once you got me out your system, but I honestly believed you cared. Was this all to get back at my father? Fuck his daughter and break her heart?” she asks. “I have to go," she says, walking out of the bedroom with me following.
"Allie, it was never like that between us. I love you," I say.
"If you loved me, you would have chosen me. You didn't, and I can't believe I let you get close to me."
"I was an idiot back then. Allie, you know how sorry I am about then, but I do love you. The question is: if you love me too," I say, and she stops in the empty doorway.
She turns to me, breaking my heart when I see the tears. "I always did! I always loved you, but you ruined what we could have had. I hate Lily because she had you for years, and I had to watch. I finally thought I had you, and, no, she is still around," Allie shouts before looking down at the ground.
"It's a risk seeing you. A game I can’t play with you, not if you are still talking to her. Still defending her."
"What are you saying?" I ask with my heart pounding against my chest.
"Goodbye, Elliot," she whispers before shutting the door behind her, and I slam my fist through the wall behind me.
"Fuck," I shout, sliding my ass down to the floor as my blood drips from my hand in front of me.
I have to fix this, but I have no idea how. Allie’s hurt, and her haunted face will destroy me if I don't make this better.
76
Allie
"Oh god." I moan. My head spins as I sit up in my bed. The room blurs for a second before I wipe my eyes. My hands come away a little blac
k. I must have gone to sleep with my make-up on, too.
"God isn't going to help you or me," a voice mutters next to me, making me almost jump out of my skin before I see Izzy’s face in my bed.
"Izzy, what happened last night?" I ask her.
"Wait, I need the loo. I will be right back," she says, hopping out of bed to use my bathroom.
I sit up in bed, noticing I'm wearing one of Elliot’s shirts he left here with just my mini shorts. I know I drank a lot last night, and I start to think back to yesterday. It hits me hard when I remember my fight with Elliot, and then I went to the shop and bought Tequila. I remember getting back and drinking in my room but not much else.
"Hey, I brought you a bottle of water from out of your mini fridge," Izzy says, and I grab the drink from her as she gets back into bed with me.
"I’ll give you the quick version of what happened. I came back with Blake after a date at around eleven, and you were dancing on your bed, hammered. Then you started crying, and eventually, I got you to go to sleep. That was only a few hours ago, I need more sleep." She yawns.
I can't think straight about last night. What happened with Elliot was a giant fuck-up, and most of it was because I’m scared of how much he means to me.
"What caused this? You told me last night you love Elliot, but you don't know why," she says.
Holy cow, I haven’t even let myself think about my feelings for Elliot, and yet I told Izzy last night.
"We had a fight. He saw Lily without telling me, and then everything came out about when we were younger. I knew once the fight was over, and I walked out, that I overreacted a little. I just couldn’t turn back."
"Oh," Izzy says, taking my hand and giving it a small squeeze. I look over at her with her messy, blond hair.
"You look like Tinkerbell on crack." I laugh.
"I'd say you look like Cinderella after a long night out, but I'm not sure which of us looks worse." She winks, clearly letting me know that I look worse. I'm sure I feel worse.
"So I get he should have told you, but all it comes back to is this: Can you forgive Elliot and do you love him? Or can you let him go?" she asks me bluntly.